Boys Basketball: Archbishop Wood withstands Lansdale Catholic

WARMINSTER — The Lansdale Catholic boys basketball team saw no reason to be satisfied with recording the first ever Philadelphia Catholic League playoff win, which they accomplished against Conwell Egan on Monday. The tenth-seeded Crusaders came to Archbishop Wood with the full intent to continue its winning ways.

The seventh-seeded Vikings failed to capitalize on a 7-0 start and with two minutes remaining on Wednesday, were witnessing bedlam. With heart rates speeding out of control the Crusaders committed a few costly errors down the stretch and allowed the Vikings to prevail with a 38-36 win.

“Give Wood credit,” Lansdale Catholic coach Ed Enoch said. “There was that one minute and a half were they came out, I don’t know what happen, and it was over.”

The momentum changed with every turnover in the adrenaline-filled fourth quarter. The Crusaders’ senior Jim Rock made a steal and raced to a breakaway lay-up that gave the Crusaders a 33-32 lead. However the Vikings’ junior Pat Smith stole the momentum right back by hitting a three-pointer on the following trip down the floor. The Crusaders had a chance to tie it at buzzer, but the floater fell short and the Vikings prevailed.

“We knew Wood was a great team, but we were very confident,” Rock said. “We were really ready. The last game against West Catholic and the two against Conwell Egan were must win games, so we came in with an edge. For the last week we had to keep winning to keep playing.”

Pat Smith, who missed the last two games with the flue, scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter. His first field goal came with six minutes remaining in the game, but the three-ball by Smith and one by Tommy Rush was enough to erase the previous three quarters of poor shooting.

“Rush hit a big three to start us up,” Smith said. “Once we saw the ball go in it gave us confidence. The last week I was sick and I am a little out of shape, but I feel better now.”

Smith was not the only Vikings struggling to find a rhythm, especially on free throws. The Vikings shot 10-21 from the foul line and watched multiple chances to increase their lead get wasted. With senior center Joe LoStracco battling foul trouble, Shane Neher stepped in the paint and scored a team high 10 points.

“A lot of our shots did not fall, but in the fourth quarter we knew it was do or die,” Smith said. “We had eight minutes to step up or we were going home. We picked it up on the defensive side. That’s where it all starts.”

A lot of the offensive woes for the Vikings were forced by the Crusaders zone defense. Even after a first quarter that saw the Vikings started on a 7-0 and closed the quarter with a deep three-pointer at the buzzer, coach Enoch’s group was not phased.

“They have a lot of good players and you have to hope they miss some shots,” Enoch said. “You also have to rebound, and that’s what happened in the first quarter. We did not rebound.”

After 13 points in the first quarter, the Crusaders limited the Vikings to nine points over the next 16 minutes. The Crusaders made all of their defensive switches smoothly and made sure they got a hand in the face of all the Vikings’ shooters. The Crusaders took a seven point lead into final quarter.

“I tried to be a leader out there,” Rock said. “We played zone a lot and Rafferty did a good job on Pat Smith. They set a lot picks at the top of the key and we had to make a lot of switches. Pat is a great players and I just did my best to get a hand in his face.”

Leading all scorers with 11 points was the Crusaders Brian Rafferty, while Andrew Riviello added 10 in the season ending loss. Biting down hard on their green and gold jersey in anger, shock, and disappointment could not get the taste out the Crusaders mouth. “We tried to stay composed, but they took the tempo from us,” Rock said. “It is definitely a special season. The six seniors grew up playing together and I could not have asked for a better script.”